Criminal Review

John C Reilly stars as conman, Richard Gaddis. His regular partner's gone AWOL, and he's on the lookout for another. Needing money fast, Rodrigo - Diego Luna, joins him for a day of education in the art of duping people. Their first few scams are easy and then they're handed a giant con, involving a counterfeit banknote, which promises big bucks. The only problem is, they have to do their business at the same hotel where Richard's sister works and believe me, Valerie - played by Maggie Gyllenhaal is not happy with her brother. Criminal is practically a carbon copy of 9 Queens, but is a watered down version, without the political and social resonances of the original. To quicken the pace Gregory Jacobs has removed many of the subtleties from that script, losing some of the pizzazz too. But he hasn?t killed it. Criminal is still satisfying escapism? the performances are amusing, there?s bucket loads of unexpected twists and you become an accomplice to Richard and Rodrigo?s exploits.